Recent content by tori729

Living vicariously through you! I have yet to raise chicks and I *really* want to but 8 hens are enough for me for now! We will see as the weather gets warmer though. Chicken math is HARD lol

I LOVE my marans from TSC/Hoover's. One of them has the copper and one is just black. They are both very sweet and friendly and regularly lay large pretty dark brown eggs. I definitely want to keep this breed as a regular part of my flock. My RiRs are more aggressive and don't love to be held...

So how would this work and when would you plant it? Also, we really don't have much full sun in our backyard - the areas that could use some extra seed/grass are the areas where moss usually grows b/c it doesn't get as much sun.

Yeah I think we just have to figure it out. Initially I was worried about predators so I didn't want them roaming. That's not the issue anymore but now it's more about preserving the grass so we actually have a yard for my kids to play in. I think it's harder b/c of the time of year we started...

Thanks all! I don't know that we want to put more fencing up so I think we will try and just keep them confined a little bit more especially as it gets colder and when it's drier. I hate that they are confined b/c I feel like we forget about them when they are just in their corner run. :( As...

We have 8 pullets and have been free ranging them most days in our fenced in backyard. We started this in August I believe so it's been a few months. We have 6/10 of an acre so I'm guessing our backyard is about 1/4 of an acre. They also have a fenced in run that's about 18'x12' where they stay...

I know this is a bit old but thought I would chime in. I have eight hens and they are all super sweet to each other! Every once in awhile I'll see some rear up and "contend" but then one backs down. My head hen is actually super docile and the easiest to catch. She is the one who even from 8...

One thing I really wanted was a raised up coop for two reasons: so I had a sheltered place for the food and a sheltered place for the chickens. The coop is small so I knew I needed to utilize the other space I had. There ARE things I would do differently if I had to do it again, but this is one...

Thanks! Do you think the mulch is okay to have some in there or just better to have other things instead? I can mix in some pellets and shavings. I can also shred some paper to put in. Appreciate the help!

Yes, that's the build. So far it's probably been 2-3 weeks and I've dumped one more wheel barrel load of mulch in a few days ago. There's a smell but it's not strong and it's still dry. I might try mixing in some different types of litter to help and keep a watch on it. I'm thinking it will...

Yeah I even tried to figure out which one I meant before I posted - why I put both in the title lol! The floor is wood with vinyl over it so yeah it would be deep BEDDING. SO hard for me to remember which is which! Stall pellets = wood horse pellets right? Good idea to mix different things. I...

My coop is 6x6 and about 1" deep. I'm using wood mulch chips in the bottom. The roosts are on the far side of the coop away from the door and the poop pretty much stays over there. I've been just mixing it around every few days to keep it from collecting together and I did add another load of...

I know this is a bit old, but I've always been a fan of birds. I have the Merlin app which records and identifies the birds around you and it's so fascinating! We live in an older neighborhood with tall, mature trees so there are lots of birds. We've witnessed a flock of blue jays attacking a...

Updating this: Not too long after this post, I gave in and decided to let them range more. I stayed out with them at first and they would often go under our cypress tree and rest/dust bathe. Now they get to range all of the time when we're home, which is most of the time. I've heard hawk calls...

I'm impressed with these giant flocks! I'm assuming it's more of a fun business at that point - breeding chicks for selling, meat birds, etc. We have 8 pullets and no plans to add/subtract any over the winter. They are 11-12 weeks old: 2 RIR, 2 Black Marans, and 4 (unexpected) Buff Brahmas (TSC...